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Compare the meerkats ... at Longleat Safari Park
Compare the meerkats ... at Longleat Safari Park

Summer fun: kids' days out in the UK

This article is more than 12 years old
There are some great family days out to enjoy in the UK this summer. Just pack the picnic and set off

Get mobbed by meerkats, Longleat, Wiltshire

New for 2011 at the UK's first safari park, Longleat, is the brilliantly interactive Jungle Kingdom, where you can go walkabout with a mob of meerkats (heads up: they're dead keen on painted toenails) and a vast colony of chipmunks; hand-feed rainbow lorikeets; take a sea lion-escorted voyage and duck as monkeys swing overhead. Also new is Hunters of the Sky – Longleat's first bird of prey show – and the chance to feed the parkland deer on foot. Plus those scourges of many a car aerial, the rhesus monkeys, are back causing mayhem in the Safari Drive Adventure. Count your hubcaps (and your kids – they won't want to leave) on the way out.

01985 844400, longleat.co.uk, adults from £26, children (3-14) from £18.50

Have a wizard time, Edinburgh

With Harry P about to apparate into cinemas for the final time, this day out around JK Rowling's hometown of Edinburgh should leave kids spellbound. Get off to a flying start with a hands-on Owl Encounter at Dalhousie Castle, where you'll fly your very own Hedwig, hopefully minus Howlers. Next it's lunch at Edinburgh's Elephant House, where Rowling wrote much of her earlier books, in the back room overlooking Edinburgh Castle (wonder where the inspiration for Hogwarts came from?). For pure magical mayhem, finish with Potted Potter at the Pleasance Theatre, combining all seven stories in just 70 minutes. You'll laugh so hard no Boggart will stand a chance.

Owl Encounter (01875 820153, dalhousiecastle.co.uk) lasts 90 mins and costs £60pp. Elephant House (0131 220 5355, elephanthouse.biz) paninis and baked potatoes from £5. Potted Potter 3-16 August (0131 556 6550, pleasance.co.uk/edinburgh), tickets from £5. For information about visiting the city go to thisismyedinburgh.com

Boogie at the Lollibop festival, 5-7 August, London

Forget tax-dodging rock stars prancing around in leathers – what small child wants to see that? When it comes to big bashes for little people, London's Lollibop festival in Regents Park is where it's at. OK, so headliners have names like Rastamouse and da Easy Crew; Charlie and Lola; ZingZillas and Horrible Histories – but you won't queue for hours to get in, only to have the kids decide they want to go home– and there's still the chance to shout, "Tune!" in Minimissioncorrect and Baby Loves Discocorrect. Plus all the activities, even face painting, are included in the ticket price.

0844 844 0444, lollibopfestival.co.uk, adult £25, child £23, child under one year free, family of four £84.25

Swim with sharks, Blue Planet Aquarium, Cheshire

Sand Tiger Shark
Sand Tiger Shark, Blue Planet Aquarium. Photograph: Alamy

The home to Europe's largest collection of sharks now offers junior shark encounters. Yes, you read that right: confident swimmers aged eight to 15 can go face to face – well, diving mask to razor-sharp teeth – with sharks including the zebra, blacktip reef, bamboo and wobbegong varieties. The whole experience, including full dive instruction, lasts about three hours. If the kids are still chomping at the bit, head for nearby Chester Zoo, where new arrivals include 13 enormous, animatronic dinosaurs.

0151 357 8804, blueplanetaquarium.com, £140 per child, including full instruction, dive equipment, free entry for accompanying adult and reduced rates for spectators. Dinosaurs at Large! is at Chester Zoo (01244 380280, chesterzoo.org) until 8 October, adults £15.40, children (3-15) £11.50, family ticket £50

Shake a peg leg, Gathering of the Pirate Clans, Hastings

Definitely worth overdoing the black-eyeliner for, the gathering sees the town going pirate mad, with swordfights, re-enactments and sea shanties galore. Take the West Hill cliff railway to the Smugglers' Adventure at St Clements Caves, then make for Maggie's in the fishing quarter for quality fish and chips. Next, strike out for the new Pirate Golf before refuelling with ice-cream from Di Pola's opposite. Don't miss the grand parade to the beach when thousands of pirates will attempt to form a giant skull and crossbones.

visit1066country.com, no admission charge. Cliff railway (01424 451111), adults £2.40, children £1.40; Smugglers Adventure (01424 444412, smugglersadventure.co.uk), adults £7.40, children £5.40. Maggie's, (01424 430205), cod and chips £6.70; Pirate Golf (01424 437227, hastingsadventuregolf.co.uk) £6.50, under fives £3.25. Di Pola's (01424 203666), £1.50 for a one-scoop cone

Hit a Blue Flag beach, Portrush, County Antrim

White Rocks beach, Portrush
White Rocks beach, Portrush. Photograph: Alamy

Take Portrush and Portstewart Strand's Blue Flag beaches, add a bucket, spade and picnic and it's most kids' idea of a perfect day. Keep older/less easily pleased broods occupied with surf lessons from the schools in Portrush, or Aquaholics' high-speed Causeway Coast sea safari (look out for dolphins and seals). Top off your day with a giant ice-cream sundae at Morelli's.

07894 854791, portrushsurfschool.com. Two-hour class from £25pp. Aquaholics (028-7083 2584, aquaholics.org) sea safari from £20pp. Morellis (028-7083 2150, morellisofportstewart.co.uk)

Own a pony for the day, Carmarthenshire

Equine-obsessed offspring? Carmarthenshire's Marros Riding Centre holds "Own a Pony" days every Wednesday during the holidays. Suitable for kids aged eight up, the day includes a lesson and a hack, plus lots of hands-on horsey fun, from grooming and tack cleaning to mucking out. Family members not suffering from pony-itis can hit the beach: deserted (bar the occasional naturist) Marros Sands is a 20-minute walk and Pendine Sands just minutes by car. Many stables across the UK hold similar days: to find your nearest approved school, go online at the British Horse Society (bhs.org.uk) or the Association of British Riding Schools (abrs-info.org).

01994 453777, marros-farm.co.uk. Full day including lunch £52.50, half day £39.50

Scare yourself silly, Giant Swing, Cornwall

Fancy the idea of cheating death three times in one day? Great, because not content with The Zip – the UK's longest, highest, fastest zipwire – those nutters at Adrenalin Quarry have devised yet more ways to scare you silly. At 17m off the ground, AQ's Giant Swing is the world's biggest true swing, and definitely the only one built on a cliff edge. Starting off 50m above the flooded quarry, you drop so fast it feels like you're being turned inside out. Next, take in a three-hour coasteering session that, from this summer, culminates with being catapulted into the lake. Kids want more? Kartworld is next door, or there's the award-winning Treleavens ice-cream parlour in nearby Looe, where flavours include Millionaire's Shortbread and Pimm's.

Adrenalin Quarry (01579 308204, adrenalinquarry.co.uk), zip £12.50, swing £15, coasteering (ages 10 plus) £30, ticket for all three £50. Kartworld (01579 347229 kartworldcornwall.co.uk), adults from £12 for 10 mins, children from £8. Treleavens (01503 264123, treleavens.co.uk)

Go time travelling, Beamish, the Living Museum, County Durham

Beamish Living Museum
Photograph: Alamy

Like stepping into a costume drama, a visit to Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, sends you hurtling back to Edwardian times and beyond. It's hugely interactive and realistically gritty; kids can grapple with pen and ink before the village school's stern teacher, explore a drift mine or shudder as the dentist (with red velvet chair to hide the blood) demonstrates how slow a foot-powered drill could be. Restored trams transport you around the site. From Friday 15 July, hop off at Davy's, a brand new but seriously retro fish and chip shop with coal-fired fryer. And for afters? At the Jubilee Sweetshop and Factory you can watch sweets being made, then buy them by the quarter, just the way granny and grandpa used to do. Old-school and brilliant fun.

Beamish (0191-370 4000, beamish.org.uk), adults £16, children (5-16) £10. Fish and chips at Davy's from £5.95

Sponge it up, Nickelodeon Land, Blackpool

Are you ready kids? Opened by none other than The Hoff himself, Nickelodeon Land at Pleasure Beach is the UK's biggest theme park launch for 2011. Featuring all the Nickelodeon faves, the 12 new rides include SpongeBob's Splash Bash (yes, of course, you get wet); Dora's World Voyage, and Avatar Airbender, where you soar through the air on a giant spinning disc. Together with Pleasure Beach that's 125 rides to explore – but if the kids fancy more of a Bikini Bottom vibe, Sandcastle Water Park (the UK's largest indoor water park) is virtually opposite.

Pleasure Beach (0871 222 1234, pleasurebeachresort.com), entry from £22. Sandcastle (01253 343 602, sandcastle-waterpark.co.uk), adults £12, children (3-11) £10

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